New adventures in Hong Kong, but what about the boat?
Anyone who has been following us has noticed that in April 2023 we moved to Hong Kong! Yes, we are here, almost on the other side of the world and with new adventures!!!
With all this change, we have received many questions: What about the boat? Will you take it there? Did you go sailing? Are you tired of sailing?
To explain everything properly, we have to first talk about how we organized our plans before moving to the boat:
The ideal age for the children
Our initial idea was to enjoy some time getting to know life on board and we wanted to do that while kids would be still "young" enough, this was the center of our entire decision, we knew that the best time for our children to be with us on this adventure without disturbing their life would be between 9 and 13 years old as they are neither too small that they could get in the way of the boat nor too big that they get bored of having their parents around 24/7.
And now I think that if we got anything right, it was this decision. The children were 9 and 10 years old when we arrived on the boat and they enjoyed the whole adventure with us like never before! - But... we had in mind that as soon as they got bigger, we'd like to go back to living in society.
2022, the best year of our lives
2022 was a special year, we lived a whole season on board and enjoyed it fully. There was nothing better than being on the boat touring different places, swimming in crystal clear waters in Croatia, Montenegro and Greece. We make discoveries every day and we could fully experience each one of them, but this was also a year in which the children had almost no social life. During 2022 we found only one other family with one child, far from the minimum ideal, and it was not due to lack of effort, but due to a shortage of children. No illusions, living on board means being alone, especially for children. Most of the sailors around us were already retired and had adult children.
On vacation in Brazil
After spending the winter of 2021/2022 in Italy, we were sure we didn't want to get the med cold/wet winter again, so we headed to Brazil as soon as the thermometer started to fall in Turkey.
We were very excited to see all our family and friends again, the children were especially happy to be able to stay with their cousins for a few months. How many unforgettable moments we had! It was there that we observed how happy Giovanni and Manu were being able to spend hours playing, chatting and having fun! - For child, child is needed, no doubts!
Still during the season, both Giovanni and especially Manu were asking to go back to face-to-face school. Not that boatschooling wasn't going well, but because they wanted to see other kids, meet friends and... socialize.
We were certain that we would do the 2023, 2024 season and, following the agreement with the children, then stop somewhere to remake life on land, but we are not always masters of time and reason, are we? And some opportunities only come once....
New Airs, Hong Kong
After 2 years without flying, with all my licenses expired and not even thinking about getting on a plane again, I was called to fly my old friend Boeing 777, now in Hong Kong! When we received the proposal, we had a shock! It couldn't be, what do you mean? - our plan was to stop in 2024 and now!? - Family reunion, urgently! Together we put all the pros and cons, the options, everything we should change and everyone (or almost everyone) was divided. Each one had an idea. We thought a lot and decided that we would live this new adventure, living in East Asia, we never imagined this and even with many of those doubts, here we are! But what about Trouble Maker? How is the project?
Trouble Maker
Don't worry, we're not selling her! Trouble Maker is our chosen one and although we are not attached to material things, nor to any boat, we don't think it's the right time to sell it.
If you thought we got here by boat, no, we didn't… we came by plane, which is much easier and probably much less interesting! We're not bringing the boat to Hong Kong either, although it looks pretty cool sailing around here, Trouble's place is still there in Europe for at least the next few years.
But the next question is: what are we going to do with Onboard Experiences?
Experiences on board 2023/2024
Exactly as before, the experiences on board continue! - Now with another format. We have joined the Blue Ray sailboat, which sails along the waters off the north coast of São Paulo and south of Rio de Janeiro and with that, we will have 2 experience options: one in Brazil and another in Europe and both with captain Dilmar, who in addition of having a lot of experience (see here) is also a fantastic person and will be able to give more flexibility to our program with options of one day or up to 6 nights (or more) on board.
Trouble Maker will be available from May to October with lots of activities so if you're
looking for something special to do aboard in Europe, get in touch!
As for us, we're going to keep doing the front end and logistics of Experiences now remotely, even so, we want to tell you everything we've experienced and hear everything about your experience!
If you have any questions regarding the No Trouble Onboard Experiences, send us a message, we are always happy to chat and tell you a little about how this change is going!
Fair winds,
Trouble Makers
